“The West Wing,” the TV series, taped its freshman season finale on location in D.C. over two nights last week. In the taping, a Secret Service agent wrestles President Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen) to the ground. Oh my . . . the President gets shot . . .shades of Ronald Reagan . . . don’t tell . . . the season finale airs on NBC, May 17.
“West Wing fever” continues to hit the Washington establishment hard. It seems everyone wants the cast at their parties. The White House News Photographer Association (WHNPA) snagged John Spencer (the “L.A. Law” alum who plays Leo McGarry — the President’s Chief of Staff and his closest ally and confidant) as a special guest for its annual dinner last weekend. The WHNPA hosts the final of three spring press dinners and is usually the least star-studded of the trio. . . but not for long. Plans are in the works to have “The West Wing” use WHNPA’s dinner next April as an on-location shoot. The lines between Hollywood and Washington are blurrier than ever!
Many in the entertainment community have been making trips to D.C. for the annual round of “marches on D.C.” Clint Black performed at Earth Day, teen fave movie star Reese Witherspoon is bringing her newborn to the Million Mom March this weekend — it’s on Mother’s Day — and a whole closetful of women made it to the gay rights march the other weekend — Anne Heche, Ellen DeGeneres, Kathy Najimy, Melissa Etheridge and Martina Navratilova. These Hollywood stars showed their muscle at the march — Ellen and Anne did not like the smell of mud backstage and pushed their way up to the top of the speaking schedule. Melissa and Martina joined the bandwagon, and pushing others, including Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) back to a later time slot. Frank complained, fretted and fumed, and worthwhile cause aside, finally walked.
A boy’s best friend is his dog? Elian Gonzalez received a gift from St. Anne’s County, Maryland — a black lab puppy named “Sinde” to help fill his days as his legal battle continues. But apparently, he and his dad got cabin fever anyway at the lavish Wye Plantation on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. (They never had it so good in Cardenas — and if Elian is sent back to Cuba, what happens to his best “friend” Sinde?) So Elian goes to dinner at the home of former U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, Elizabeth Bagley, and her husband, Smith, in Georgetown, Washington’s historic neighborhood. Smith is the Democratic party fundraiser and R.J. Reynolds tobacco heir, who back in 1980 discussed plans for a casino in Havana. For years Bagley’s foundation, Arca, has funneled part of their fortune to anti-embargo efforts in and out of Cuba. Could Elian’s first Georgetown soiree be the foundation to future opportunity?
Media and political power Dick Carlson has met his “Waterloo” and it’s Monica Lewinsky. This influential Washingtonian has been using his diplomatic skills (honed during his stint as U.S. Ambassador to the Seychelles) and media connections (a former job includes directing Voice of America) to get Monica Lewinsky more jobs as a spokesperson. So far his efforts have been met with zero interest from PR firms, and it’s beginning to make him the object of ridicule.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his bride-to-be, Callista Bistek, have traded in the “Contract for America” for a contract on a near-million-dollar home. These near-newlyweds plan to feather their nest on a 7,500 square foot abode in posh McLean, VA.